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S 3251 114th Congress Senate

Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016

Official title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exemption to the individual mandate to maintain health coverage for certain individuals whose p… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exemption to the individual mandate to maintain health coverage for certain individuals whose premium has increased by more than 10 percent, and for other purposes.

Introduced: July 14, 2016 Introduced by: Cotton, Tom Republican · Arkansas See on congress.gov
Taxation
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This bill died when the 114th Congress ended
It never became law before the 114th Congress (2015–2016) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jul 14, 2016
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Jul 14, 2016
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action July 14, 2016

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to exempt individuals with certain premium increases from the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to maintain minimum essential health coverage.

The exemption applies to any individual for any month during a year that the individual resides in a state in which the average premium for self-only or family coverage under the second lowest cost silver plans within the state has increased by more than 10% from the prior year.

The bill also requires the cost of annual deductibles to be taken into account in applying the exemption for individuals who cannot afford coverage.

The bill repeals provisions added to the IRC by PPACA that: (1) restrict payments from health savings accounts (HSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), and health flexible spending and reimbursement arrangements for medications to prescription drugs and insulin only (thus allowing payments for over-the-counter medications); (2) impose a $2,500 limitation on salary reduction contributions to a health flexible spending arrangement under a cafeteria plan; and (3) impose an additional tax on HSA and Archer MSA distributions not used for qualified medical expenses.

 Related & companion bills 5
  • HR 1547 Related bill Family Health Care Flexibility Act
  • S 836 Related bill Family Health Care Flexibility Act
  • HR 2207 Related bill FSA Act
  • S 3297 Identical bill Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016
  • HR 6019 Identical bill Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 2
All 2 Republican 2
R
Johnson, Ron
Wisconsin · Jul 14, 2016
 R
Lankford, James
Oklahoma · Jul 14, 2016
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 3251: Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-3251/
MLA
"S. 3251: Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-3251/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 3251, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-3251/.
Markdown link
[S. 3251: Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-3251/)
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